Medical information generation and recordation methods and apparatus

Abstract

Computer-implemented medical information recording methods are described. According to one aspect, a computer-implemented medical information recording method includes displaying a graphical user interface including a graphical representation of the human anatomy, accessing user inputs interacting with the graphical representation of the human anatomy, and generating an electronic record comprising data pertaining to the health of the patient using the user inputs interacting with the graphical representation of the human anatomy.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented medical information recording method comprising:
 displaying a graphical user interface including a graphical representation of a plurality of joints of a human anatomy; 
 accessing user inputs interacting with the graphical representation of the joints of the human anatomy, the user inputs comprising data pertaining to a health of a patient including associations of different conditions with different ones of the joints; and 
 generating an electronic record which includes the data pertaining to the health of the patient including the associations of the different conditions with the different ones of the joints. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1  wherein the user inputs select the different ones of the joints. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1  wherein the generating comprises generating the electronic record including a table having a plurality of entries corresponding to the joints and including the associations of the different conditions with the different ones of the joints. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1  wherein the generating comprises generating the electronic record in the form of an outcome measure which is indicative of a level of disease in the patient. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1  wherein the accessing comprises accessing the user inputs which result from interactions of medical personnel with the patient at one moment in time, and wherein the generating comprises generating the electronic record including the data comprising trend data pertaining to the health of the patient at a plurality of moments in time including the one moment in time. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5  further comprising generating a graph of the trend data pertaining to the health of the patient at the plurality of moments in time including the one moment in time. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1  wherein the displaying comprises displaying the graphical user interface comprising the data pertaining to the health of the patient. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 selecting some of the data pertaining to the health of the patient which corresponds to an outcome measure which is indicative of disease activity in the patient; and 
 calculating a score for the outcome measure using the some of the data pertaining to the health of the patient. 
 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 8  wherein the calculating comprises calculating the score using a plurality of parameters, and further comprising displaying a visual analog scale for one of the parameters, and accessing user input interacting with the visual analog scale which selects a value for the one of the parameters used in the calculation of the score of the outcome measure. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 8  further comprising accessing laboratory information regarding the individual, and wherein the calculating comprises calculating the score using the laboratory information. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 8  wherein the selecting comprises selecting the conditions for some of the joints. 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 8  wherein the user inputs result from interactions of medical personnel with the patient at one moment in time, and the generating comprises generating the electronic record comprising trend data regarding the patient comprising a plurality of scores of the outcome measure at a plurality of moments in time including the one moment in time. 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 1  further comprising generating a report comprising the data pertaining to the health of the patient for submission to a medical agency with respect to compensation for services of medical personnel treating the patient. 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 1  wherein the generating comprises generating the electronic record comprising a table including a plurality of entries for the different ones of the joints, and the data including the conditions associated with the different ones of the joints. 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 1  wherein one of the conditions is associated with a plurality of the joints, and further comprising determining a total number of the joints having the one of the conditions. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 1  further comprising determining total numbers of the joints having the respective different conditions. 
     
     
       17. A computer configured to generate medical information for a patient comprising:
 a display device configured to display a graphical user interface including a graphical representation of a plurality of joints of a human anatomy; and 
 processing circuitry configured to:
 access user inputs interacting with the graphical representation of the joints of the human anatomy, the user inputs comprising data pertaining to a health of a patient including associations of different conditions with different ones of the joints; and 
 generate an electronic record which includes the data pertaining to the health of the patient including the associations of the different conditions with the different ones of the joints. 
 
 
     
     
       18. The computer of  claim 17  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to use the joints with the associated conditions to determine a value of an outcome measure which is indicative of a level of activity of arthritis in the patient and to generate a report including the value of the outcome measure and a table having a plurality of entries corresponding to the joints of the human anatomy and the different conditions associated with different ones of the joints. 
     
     
       19. The computer of  claim 18  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the value of the outcome measure using laboratory information and a value indicative of the general health of the patient. 
     
     
       20. The computer of  claim 17  wherein the processing circuitry is configured to access the user inputs which result from interactions of medical personnel with the patient at one moment in time, and to generate trend data pertaining to the health of the patient at a plurality of moments in time including the one moment in time. 
     
     
       21. At least one computer-readable storage media comprising programming configured to cause processing circuitry to perform processing comprising:
 displaying a graphical user interface including a graphical representation of a plurality of joints of a human anatomy; 
 accessing user inputs interacting with the graphical representation of the joints of the human anatomy, the user inputs comprising data pertaining to a health of a patient including associations of different conditions with different ones of the joints; and 
 generating an electronic record which includes the data pertaining to the health of the patient including the associations of the different conditions with the different ones of the joints. 
 
     
     
       22. The at least one computer-readable storage media of  claim 21  further comprising programming configured to cause processing circuitry to perform processing comprising determining a value of an outcome measure using the different conditions associated with the different ones of the joints of the patient. 
     
     
       23. The at least one computer-readable storage media of  claim 21  wherein the displaying comprises displaying a table having a plurality of entries corresponding to the joints of the human anatomy and the different conditions associated with the different ones of the joints. 
     
     
       24. The at least one computer-readable storage media of  claim 21  wherein the displaying comprises displaying the graphical representation of the human anatomy which graphically indicates the different conditions associated with the different ones of the joints.